New Delhi, Sept. 30 -- The government on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged for a dozen small savings schemes including the tax-saving Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi accounts for the three months through December, holding it for 11 straight quarters.

Given that the government uses collections via small savings schemes to partly fund its fiscal deficit, the latest move signals the Centre's belief that such inflows will remain strong even without rate hikes.

For the December quarter, deposits under the PPF and Sukanya Samriddhi accounts will continue to fetch interest rates of 7.1% and 8.2%, respectively, the department of economic affairs said in an office memorandum on Wednesday.

The rates will also be retained ...